Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) apps help their users use and combine multiple mobility services, such as car-sharing and public transport. Many mobility providers are considering how to position themselves in this changing environment and whether to enter the service ecosystem of one or more MaaS app providers. To explain the development and emergence of service ecosystems, we develop a midrange theory by complementing the service-dominant logic perspective with Activity Theory. We test our theoretical model by analyzing empirical evidence collected in interviews with experts from German public transport organizations, some of which are entering or have entered the service ecosystem of the Moovel Group GmbH, which provides the Reach Now app. Our results indicate that it is the current development phase of service ecosystems that influences whether a mobility provider joins the service ecosystem of a MaaS app provider, a MaaS app provider enters the mobility provider’s service ecosystem, or both service ecosystems remain unconnected. Furthermore, our study results indicate that shared objects play a decisive role in connecting activity systems and thereby influence the development and emergence of service ecosystems.

移动即服务 （MaaS） 应用程序可帮助其用户使用和组合多种移动服务，例如汽车共享和公共交通。许多移动出行提供商正在考虑如何在这种不断变化的环境中定位自己，以及是否进入一个或多个 MaaS 应用程序提供商的服务生态系统。为了解释服务生态系统的发展和出现，我们通过将服务主导逻辑视角与活动理论相辅相成，发展了一种中端理论。我们通过分析与德国公共交通组织专家访谈中收集的经验证据来测试我们的理论模型，其中一些组织正在进入或已经进入提供 Reach Now 应用程序的 Moovel Group GmbH 的服务生态系统。我们的结果表明，服务生态系统的当前发展阶段会影响移动出行提供商是加入 MaaS 应用程序提供商的服务生态系统，MaaS 应用程序提供商是否进入移动服务提供商的服务生态系统，或者两者的服务生态系统保持未连接。此外，我们的研究结果表明，共享对象在连接活动系统方面起着决定性的作用，从而影响服务生态系统的发展和出现。